A Disciplinary Literacy Framework
In the primary grades, the term "literacy" refers to reading and writing. In the middle and junior high school, as academic subject matter becomes more complex, so does the definition of "literacy." Literacy at the secondary level is anchored in the specifics of individual disciplines.

Disciplinary literacy is defined as mastery of both the core ideas and concepts and the habits of mind of one or more disciplines. This marriage of knowledge and thinking is a critical and practical issue for educators at the secondary level. The kind of instruction that produces disciplinary literacy addresses both at once. It does more than teach students about the discipline; it enables and requires them to do the work of the discipline. As such, the Disciplinary Literacy Framework that informs the Junior High School Literacy Initiative brings together five Design Principles that call for teaching and learning "on the diagonal." The principles are:

1. Students learn core concepts and habits of mind within each discipline as defined by standards.
2. Learn activities, curricula, tasks, text, and talk with apprentice students within the discipline.
3. Teachers apprentice students by giving them opportunities to engage in rigorous disciplinary activity and providing scaffolding through inquiry, direct instruction, models, and coaching.
4. Intelligence is socialized through community, class learning culture, and instructional routines.
5. Instruction is assessment-driven.